Knockdown cabinet construction

ABSTRACT

A KNOCKDOWN CABINET HAVING A LOWER MERCHANDISE STORAGE COMPARTMENT AND AN EXPOSED TOP SURFACE OR AREA FOR DISPLAY OF THE MERCHANDISE. IT IS COMPOSED MAINLY OF A BASE, UPRIGHT PANEL WALLS, A BOTTOM PANEL, CORNER POSTS, A TOP FRAME AND A TOP PANEL, ALL MADE AS SEPARATE MEMBERS WHICH INTERFIT WITH EACH OTHER IN SEQUENCE AND ARE MAINTAINED IN LOCKED RIGID RELATIONSHIP BY THEIR TIGHT INTERENGAGEMENT. THE CABINET CAN BE ASSEMBLED AND DISASSEMBLED WITHOUT THE USE OF SEPARATE FASTENERS AND WITHOUT THE USE OF TOOLS.

Feb. 23, 1971 c. J. ASCHINGER ETAL 3,565,503

KNOCKDOWN CABINET CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1969 INVENTORS CARL J. ASCHINGER BY EDMUND A. WEAVER,JR. MAHONEY BY M??? a RAMBO A TORNEYS Feb. 23, 1971 Q J, ASCHmGER ETAL 3,565,503

xuocxnown CABINET CONSTRUCTION Fiied April. 18, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTORS CARL J. ASCHINGER BY EDMUND A.WEAVER,JR.

Feb. 23, 1971 5 G R ETAL 3,565,503

. KNOCKDOWN CABINET CONSTRUCTION Filed April 18, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 m w- E INVENTORS CARL J. ASCH/NGER BY EDMUND A. WEAVER, JR.

MAHONEY MILLER 8 RAMBO TTORNEYS Feb. 23, 1971 c, sa- N651; HAL 3,565,503

KNOCKDOWN CABINET CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed April 18, 1969 m I .y 4 r m 1 H h 15 IL 1| 4 I, 7 O o MW /6 m 2 2 l 4 3 H 1 w 7. 1 m\%\\\ Qxmwwc m 1 1%- 1 ..l1 7 m E m 1 INVENTORS CARL J. ASCHINGER BY EDMUND A.WEAVER, JR. MA NQEZ/MILLER a RAMBO rromvsvs United States Patent 3,565,503 KNOCKDOWN CABINET CONSTRUCTION Carl J. Aschinger, Dublin, and Edmund A. Weaver, Jr., Columbus, Ohio, assignors to The Columbus Show Case Company, Columbus, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 18, 1969, Ser. No. 817,335 Int. Cl. A47b 47/00 US. Cl. 312-263 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A knockdown cabinet having a lower merchandise storage compartment and an exposed top surface or area for display of the merchandise. It is composed mainly of a base, upright panel walls, a bottom panel, corner posts, a top frame and a top panel, all made as separate members which interfit with each other in sequence and are maintained in locked rigid relationship by their tight interengagement. The cabinet can be assembled and disassembled without the use of separate fasteners and without the use of tools.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is desirable to provide a knockdown cabinet of the type indicated so that it can be crated or boxed in disassembled condition to occupy a minimum amount of space in shipping. However, it is also important that it be capable of being assembled in a simple readily understandable sequence without the use of separate fasteners which may be misplaced or lost, and without the use of tools. The capability of being assembled and disassembled is also important when it is desirable to move the cabinet to different locations in a store or for further transfer to more remote locations. It is also important that when the cabinet is once set up, it be f rigid construction without danger of its parts accidently separating.

The above and other important objects are obtained by the present invention.

In the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of this invention and in these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the assembled set-up cabinet.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing most of the members to be incorporated in the cabinet.

FIG. 3 is a similar view, but showing some of the members assembled.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 4.

. FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 7 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 5.

With reference to the drawings, the setup cabinet assembly is illustrated in FIG. 1 as being an upright cabinet of substantially rectangular horizontal cross-section which has a lower storage compartment for merchandise that is readily accessible preferably by means of the sliding doors 10. The top of the cabinet preferably is of tray-like form providing a readily accessible space in which the merchandise can be retained for display.

The cabinet assembly is formed from the members illustrated best in FIGS. 2 and 3. These members invvclude a generally rectangular open base frame 11, end

3,565,503 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 wall panels 12 and 13, a rear panel 14, a bottom panel 15, corner angle posts 16, 17, .18, and 19, a top mounting rectangular open frame 20, a top panel 21, and a top trim frame 22. The members 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 22 are preferably made of sheet metal, although they could be of other materials that could be similarly formed. The panels 12, 13, 14, 15, and 21 are preferably of wood, although they could be of other suitable panel material. The doors 10 are preferably of material like the panels.

The base frame 11 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is composed of an upright border web or band 25 which has an inturned peripheral flange 26 on its lower edge that will rest on the floor. Its upper edge is provided with an outturned periphery flange 27 and on this flange a horizontal strip or web 28 is welded to provide a horizontally disposed perimeter supporting shelf or ledge extending completely around the frame. This member 28 has a downturned reinforcing lip 29, at its inner edge, and an upturned lip 30, at its outer edge, at the rear and ends of the frame 11, which is provided with an inturned locking tongue 31 at its upper edge. This tongue 31 on the lip 30 is omitted at the front of the frame 11, but the lip has disposed adjacent to the inner surface thereof, a double guide channel or track formation 32 for receiving the sliding doors 10. This channel is fastened in a recess 37 at the front and upper edge corner of the bottom panel 15. It will be noted that the upright web 25 of the frame 11 is inset on the web 28 to provide toe-receiving space around the frame 11. It will also be noted that the upstanding lip 30 is notched at each corner of the frame 11 to provide the corner posts receiving notches 33 (FIG. 2). Below each notch 33 is a post stop and support cleat 34 which is fixed beneath and to the adjacent portions of the horizontal web 28.

Each of the vertical wall panels 12, 13, and 14 is provided on its outer surface with horizontal and vertical slots or kerfs in predetermined locations for receiving locking flanges or tongues on cooperating members. Thus as shown in FIG. 2, each of these panels is provided with a horizontal kerf 35, spaced from the lower edge of the panel a distance equal to the height of the lip 30 on the base 11, and which extends completely across the panel is provided adjacent each of its end edges with a vertical slot or kerf 36, which is parallel to and located a predetermined distance from the adjacent vertical edge of the panel. These kerfs 36 extend the full height of the panel and cross the lower kerf 35.

This arrangement of kerfs in the panels makes it possible to dispose the panels 12, -13, and 14 with their lower edges resting on the web angle supporting ledge 28 of the base frame 11 and then to shift the panels outwardly so that the locking tongues 31 will extend into the horizontal kerfs 35. The end panels 12 and 13 wil first be positioned on the base frame and then the rear panel 14 will be positioned on the base frame between the end panels. The rear panel 14 will be of such a predetermined length that it will snugly fit be tween and form tight vertical corner joints with the end panels and aid in keeping them in an outward position on the base frame with the locking tongues 31 extending into the kerfs 35 thereof.

Next, the bottom panel 15 will be inserted flat between the end panels 12 and 1.3 and resting on the supporting ledge 28 of the base 11 as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. This bottom panel will be the same length as the rear panel 14 and will tightly fit between and engage the end panels 12 and 13 so as to lock the end panels on the cooperating locking tongues 31. The bottom panel 15 will be of a proper width that it will tightly fit between the rear panel 14 and the upstanding lip 30 at the front of the base 11.

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It will be noted from FIG. 4 that the rear edge of the bottom panel 15 will engage the inner surface of the rear panel 14 to hold the end of the rear panel on the cooperating locking tongue 31. The front edge of the bottom panel 15 with the door track formation 32 carried thereby will engage with the adjacent lip 30.

The corner posts 16, 17, 18, and 19 will next be mounted. Each of the rear corner posts 18 and 19, as indicated best in FIGS. 6 and 7, is of angular transverse cross-section and on each elongated edge is provided with an inturned locking lip or tongue 40. The angle posts are of predetermined size so that the inwardly extending locking tongues 40 will be properly located to extend into the adjacent vertical kerfs 36 of the panels 12, 13, and 14. However, the front posts 16 and 17 are of somewhat different cross-section, as indicated in FIG. 8, where only one of the flanges is shown provided with a locking tongue 40 for cooperating with the kerf 36 in the adjacent end panel 12 or 13. The front flange of the post will not have the inturned lip and will extend beyond the inner edge of the end panel so as to provide an overlap of the adjacent ends of the sliding doors 10. If desired, an additional corner angle 41 may be provided on the front vertical edge of each end panel as a vertically disposed stop with which the adjacent vertical edges of the doors will engage. The angles 41 will be properly fixed to the angles 16 and 17 such as by welding. When these assembled angles are mounted on the panels 12 and 13, they will be slipped downwardly over the edges of such panels with the tongues 40 sliding downwardly through the cooperating kerfs 36 of the panels and will drop downwardly until stopped by resting on the stop tabs 34 on the base 11. Similarly, the angles 18 and 19 will be slipped downwardly over the corners formed by the abutting rear panel 14 and end panels 12 or 13. The pair of tongues 40 on each angle post 18 and 19 will slide in the cooperating kerfs 36 of the panels. The angle posts will drop downwardly until their lower ends rest on the cooperating stop tabs 34. At this time, the partially assembled cabinet will appear as indicated in the lower part of FIG. 3. It will be apparent that when the posts 16, 17, 18, and 19 reach their lowermost positions, their upper ends will be spaced slightly from the upper edges of the adjacent panels, since the posts are of less vertical extent than the panels. This provides an uncovered corner space 42 adjacent the upper end of each post. As previously indicated, the bottom panel will tightly fit in engagement with the panels 12, 13, and 14 and force them outwardly over the adjacent cooperating locking tongues 31. In addition, the rear posts 18 and 19 will lock the vertical abutting edges of the end panels 12 and 13 and rear panel 14 together. The resulting structure will be a tightly interfitting and interlocked upright wall and base structure which will appear as indicated in the lower part of FIG. 3. To aid in removal of the tightly fitted bottom panel 15, this panel may be provided with finger grips 43, which may be in the form of openings at the rear edge thereof.

The next step is to mount the top panel-supporting frame on the upper edges of the upright panels 12, 13, and 14. This frame 20, as previously indicated, is of rectangular open construction somewhat similar to the base frame 11. The upright web 45 thereof is provided with a lower inturned ledge-forming lip 46 'which extends completely around the interior of the frame and may be of double thickness for strength. The web 45 is also provided with an upper outwardly extending peripheral flange 47 which is adapted to rest on the upper edge of the adjacent end panels 12 and 13 and rear panel 14 when the frame 20 is inserted in the upper open end of the partially set-up cabinet. This flange 47 is notched at each corner, as indicated at 48. The flange 47 at the forward side of the frame 20 is provided with a downturned track formation 49 to provide trackways or guides for the upper edge of the sliding doors 10. When the frame 20 is properly positioned in association with the upright walls 12, 13, and 14, the web will have its outer surface tightly in engagement with the adjacent inner surfaces of the walls and its outwardly extending supporting flange 47 resting on the upper edges of the respective walls. The frame 20 can now receive and support the top panel 21, which will be of a size that it will snugly fit within the frame and will rest on the supporting ledge or lip 46, as shown best in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5. The frame 20 will also aid in holding the upright panels 12, 13, and 14 in their proper vertical positions with the end panels at right angles to the rear panel. Thus, a complete boxlike rigid structure will be provided having an open front side for receiving the doors 10.

It is usually desirable to provide an additional rim or trim frame for fitting on the frame 20 at its upper side to give it a more pleasing appearance. This trim frame may take the form of the frame 22 which is of rectangular open outline and is of inverted channel cross-section, as indicated best in FIGS. 4 and 5. This frame will slip downwardly over the flange 47 and associated Web 45 of the frame 20. Between this frame and the flange 47, a cushioning gasket 50 may be provided. It will be noted that the outer flange of the frame 22 extends downwardly so as to cooperate with the track formation 49, carried by the frame 20, in forming the outer door guide for a door 10. The inner guide is formed by cooperation of web 45 of the frame 20 and the track formation 49.

The sliding door panels 10 will be the last members mounted in the assembly and this can be accomplished by first inserting their upper edges into the upper guide tracks and then moving the lower edges of the door panels horizontally inwardly to permit them to drop down into the lower guide tracks.

The assembly of the various interfitting and interlocking members will occur in the sequence indicated above and the disassembly can be readily accomplished by a reverse sequence. No separate fasteners need be used for holding the various members together and no tools are required. Maximum rigidity is obtained by the tight fitting and interlocking of parts as indicated. Also, the parts will not tend to be separated accidentally, but a positive step-by-step disassembly operation in proper sequence is necessary.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a knockdown cabinet: a base structure of angular peripheral outline; a plurality of upright panels disposed on said base structure and arranged relatively in angular, end-adjoining positions and defining a plurality of vertical corner joints; angle corner posts interfitting with adjacent portions of said upright panels at said vertical corner joints; and a bottom panel disposed on said base structure within said upright panels;

said base structure having a supporting ledge along its periphery upon which the lower edges of said panels rest and the ledge having an inturned locking tongue thereon,

said upright panels having horizontal kerfs formed therein adjacent their lower edges receiving the said locking tongue and also having vertical kerfs adjacent their vertical edges,

said bottom panel resting on said ledge in engagement with said upright panels and forcing them outwardly on the ledge to engage the locking tongue with the horizontal kerfs of said panels,

said angle posts having vertically extending locking tongues which extend into said vertical kerfs of adjacent portions of said upright panels locking them together at said vertical corner joints.

2. A knockdown ctbinet according to claim 1; wherein said base structure is rectangular and said upright panels include a back panel and two end panels disposed at right angles to said back panel; and wherein said bottom panel is of rectangular form; and wherein said angle corner posts are formed with inturned, vertical edges defining the locking tongues of said posts.

6. A knockdown cabinet according to claim 2, including a top panel-supporting frame of open rectangular form carried on the upper edges of said upright panels, and a rectangular top panel supported in said top panel-supporting frame.

4. A knockdown cabinet according to claim 3, wherein said top panelsupporting frame includes an upright web disposed adjacent the inner surfaces of said upright panels, an outwardly directed peripheral flange resting on the upper edges of said upright panels, and an inturned ledgeforming lip supporting said top panel along the edges thereof.

5. A knockdown cabinet according to claim 4, including an open rectangular trim frame of inverted channel-shaped cross section carried on the upper edges of said upright panels and over the outwardly directed peripheral flange of said top panel-supporting frame.

6. A knockdown cabinet according to claim 5, including a pair of sliding front door panels mounted in upper and lower guide tracks positioned, respectively, in said trim frame and on said base structure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner 

